


Adpetentiae Revelio

by niffizzle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Department of Mysteries, F/M, Unspeakable Draco Malfoy, Unspeakable Hermione Granger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niffizzle/pseuds/niffizzle
Summary: The Thought Division within the Department of Mysteries has many secret projects.  Draco isn’t a fan of this one.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 35
Kudos: 374
Collections: Career Day: A Dumbledore's Armada Flash Fic Competition





	Adpetentiae Revelio

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Career_Day](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Career_Day) collection. 



> Written for Dumbledore's Armada Discord Server Flash Comp hosted by missELY: Career Day
> 
> Winner of Best Use of Prompt
> 
>  **Prompt:** Unspeakable
> 
> Endless thanks to mcal and LightofEvolution for their alpha/beta support

“Perhaps if you weren’t so preoccupied with other matters, we could finally make progress on this project!”

Draco growled at the witch’s sneered remark. How he managed to have the continued misfortune of being partnered with Granger, he’d never know. Even after years of working for the Department of Mysteries’ Thought Division, every task with her ended with the same headache and need for two fingers of Firewhisky. 

Granger kept pace with Draco’s long strides as he marched through the blue illuminated corridors. He shot her a sidelong glance. “Believe it or not, I have other important projects besides the Memory Rebuilding Potion.”

She huffed. “Importance is relative.”

“Finally something we can agree upon,” Draco bitterly returned. 

Draco halted at his destination as Granger offered him a glowering pout. After so many similarly sharp conversations, Draco was accustomed to this response. Some days, he found her reactions amusing. Her nostrils would flare and her cheeks would flush. But he wasn’t in the mood. Draco had told Boot that he would meet him at his office at eleven, and if Granger hadn’t confronted him, he would have been on time.

“I’ll have a report in your impatient hands by the end of the day,” Draco said with an unwavering scowl. “So unless there’s something else you’d like to demand, you must excuse me.”

He had just poised his fist against the door when it swung open, allowing Boot to dart his eyes between them. “Good, you’re both here.”

Draco whipped his attention to Granger, then back at Boot. His scowl deepened. _Both?_

Keeping his distance from Granger, Draco followed Boot to where two Pensieves floated within the space. 

“I appreciate your help,” Boot began, casting a nonverbal spell so each basin filled. “My team and I have already tested the project on ourselves, but we need more data on its effectiveness.”

Smoky tendrils wisped from the murky liquid contained within the Pensieves. The engraved Runes around the lip were different from typical ones, but without his dictionary, Draco couldn’t translate them. He suspected that the change in symbols signified a shift in the instruments’ function.

“And what precisely _is_ your project?” Granger asked.

Boot grinned. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Neither pushed for more. As Unspeakables, they were vowed to secrecy on a strict “need-to-know” basis. And apparently, he and Granger didn’t need to know.

Moments later, both test subjects were situated in front of a Pensieve, Boot’s wand lifted at the ready.

“Clear your minds,” he instructed. “The spell knows what to look for. When I tell you, dip your head into the basin. Everything else will follow from there.”

A strange feeling surged inside Draco, but he complied anyway.

_“Adpetentiae Revelio!”_

The unfamiliar spell rang through the room as the streak of magic struck Draco’s temple. A fuzziness numbed his mind while the spell slipped through his memories, and when Boot gave the go-ahead, Draco plunged his head to discover what awaited him.

He expected to see familiar memories, flashes of his childhood or the years since the war, but he saw nothing of the sort. The surroundings were blurry — indistinct and unclear — but the witch across from him was not. With curly hair and deep brown eyes, it was none other than Granger.

He waited for a glare to appear in her gaze or a grimace to taint her lips, but neither ever came. She was smiling — genuinely smiling _._ _At him._ His heart jolted and began to beat at an unfamiliar cadence. She was pretty when she smiled.

Draco banished the thought. This wasn’t a memory. It was a dream. _No, not a dream._ Dreams were something you yearned for, _desired_. And no part of him had ever wanted Granger.

When the Draco in this dazy fog reached for Granger’s hand, he’d seen enough. Draco pulled his head out of the Pensieve and immediately met Boot with an intimidating countenance.

“What the hell did I just witness?” Draco boomed, voice bouncing off the walls.

“You know I can’t tell you everything,” Boot started. “It’s on a need-to-know—”

“I demand to know.”

Boot glanced at Granger, who had also concluded her viewing, her face now blanched pale. Boot’s gaze turned wary. 

“The spell scans your thoughts to detect your troubles and pinpoint the underlying desires that your consciousness may have not yet detected,” Boot said, voice slightly stammering. “It wasn’t intended to do either of you harm.”

“Intentions can only do so much,” Granger said, though devoid of her usual fire.

Saying nothing else, she stalked out of Boot’s office.

“I suggest you return to development because what it showed me is absurd,” Draco seethed. _“‘Underlying desires’_ my arse.”

Draco stormed through the corridor, intent on forgetting the incident, when he passed Granger’s door. It hung ajar, but he could still hear the muffled sniffs resonating from within.

He wasn’t sure why he bothered, but he let himself inside.

“No use crying over that rubbish,” he said, assessing Granger’s reddened complexion. “The spell is clearly faulty.”

Granger hung her head and shook it. 

“I… I saw a wedding,” she said, voice softly breaking. “ _My_ wedding. With my dad walking me down the aisle.”

“So what?” Draco asked, unsure of the relevance. But when her glossy eyes peered up to meet his, he recalled the rumours. His face fell. “You actually Obliviated your parents’ memories?”

Her eyes darted to the wall. “Why do you think the Memory Rebuilding Potion is so important to me?”

A clench tightened inside his chest, and Draco knew what he had to do. Within moments, he had conjured a chair and summoned the relevant files.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What does it look like?” he said, flipping through their trial reports. “We have an important project to work on.”

From his periphery, he caught a glimpse of her small, blushing smile.

Turns out, he quite liked when Hermione Granger smiled at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated and bring all the joy 💙
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr ([niffizzle](https://niffizzle.tumblr.com/)) for future story updates and to see what else I'm working on :)


End file.
